Boxing is affected by recency bias more than almost any other sport.

For many observers, years of inactivity, injury and sheer bad luck had consigned Lee McGregor's best days to memory, and a man once touted as a surefire bet to become a word champion had slowly become an afterthought.

Last December, the former British, Commonwealth and European bantamweight champion was thrust back into the brightest of spotlights and matched with the tough Isaac Lowe on the undercard of the heavyweight title rematch between unified and Ring Magazine champion, Oleksandr Usyk, and Tyson Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

McGregor always knew what he was capable of. He smiled through a long week of media activities and insisted that any pressure was on Lowe’s shoulders but internally, the weight of self-expectation lay heavy.

McGregor grew into the occasion and the fight and got better and better as the rounds passed.

He left Riyadh with a unanimous decision win and the belief that his career was finally back on track.

This weekend, McGregor (15-1-1, 11 KOs) is determined to move things further forward when he returns home to box his Scottish rival, Nathaniel Collins (16-0, 7 KOs), at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro arena.

“It was a big occasion, a big stage and you could see a lot of pressure on me but I knew what I had to do,” McGregor told The Ring.

“I did everything I needed to do but it was nowhere near what I'm capable of. Only a wee bit, a touch of the surface really. It was the first time I'd been on that sort of stage for a long, long time so dealing with all that was quite tough, but I got the win. I did what I needed to do and I'm only going to build from that now.

“I'm known for pressure. I’m known for having a great engine. I'm known for sitting in the pocket and letting the hands go and letting the shots go and that’s what we’re coming back to that but I showed my skills which not many people had seen for a while.

“It was nice to get rid of the rust but I’m coming back to myself and I can feel it in training, sparring and everything since that fight. I really feel like I'm coming back to my best version of myself again.”

McGregor became the fastest British fighter to win the British, Commonwealth and European titles, accomplishing the feat in just 10 professional fights. He did it all whilst dealing with the trauma of losing four close family members within a 16 month period.

Boxing provided McGregor with something to focus on and he enjoyed a dramatic rise through the levels but it was maybe inevitable that things would eventually level out.

In late 2021, he was forced to withdraw from a high profile spot on the Derek Chisora-Joseph Parker undercard after his father was seriously injured after been struck by a lorry and when he did return to action, a frustrating draw with Argentina’s Diego Ruiz seemed to kill his momentum.

Later that year, he his lost his unbeaten record after a violent 12-round war with Mexico’s Erik Ayala Robles.

That defeat cast him into the wilderness.

This time last year, McGregor had just scored a nondescript win over one Jorge Moya at a Glasgow hotel and was wondering where his career would take him. On Saturday night, he will fight at the city’s largest venue in front of a capacity crowd.

“It’s mad. When you think of me last year, it's just mental but this is why I'm not getting too excited because I know how quickly it can be ripped away. I’m just taking it in my stride,” he said.

“Experience has shown that I don't need to let the occasion get to me. I don't need to overdo any training or be too eager and then end up being burnt out by the time the fight comes. I know how to manage everything. I feel like I've experienced too much now to let these good times get to me and end up making them my downfall so I’m just treating it like every other fight.”

So much about boxing is timing and, over the past six months, things finally seem to have started falling into place for the 28 year-old.

Just weeks after he got himself back into contention by beating Lowe, McGregor’s friend and former undisputed super lightweight champion, Josh Taylor signed with Queensberry Promotions, providing the promotional giant with a reason to take a big show back to Scotland.

A natural rival has also emerged. McGregor’s former amateur teammate, Nathaniel Collins, has returned from a serious injury and is ready for a big fight of his own.

Beating Lowe was a solid step but a win over the undefeated Collins will see McGregor regain the ground he has lost over the past few years.

“We’ve sparred hundreds of rounds,” McGregor remembered. “So many rounds, so we know each other really well and I think we both know what kind of fight we're going into. The respect's there to both know that this is a tough fight for the both of us and we both need to be fully prepared for it.”

Although McGregor and Collins know each other inside out, the dynamic between the two has undoubtedly changed over the past twelve months.

Whilst McGregor scrapped to remain relevant, Collins emerged as a genuine contender, winning the British and Commonwealth featherweight titles and climbing the world rankings.

Last May, the 28 year-old was plunged into a crisis of his own.

Just days after overcoming a badly broken nose to beat Italy’s Francesco Grandelli, Collins was rushed into hospital and underwent life-saving surgery to repair a twisted bowel.

The super fit Collins has spent the past year working his way back to full health and has scored one eight-round win but the revitalised McGregor represents a serious test.

“I can't even think about that. I need to just prepare for the best version of Nathaniel,” McGregor said.

“He’s been through a lot, it's just the same as me in my career. He’s come through it and I think he's done mad stuff since that, fitness wise, like ultra marathons so his body must have recovered well.

“He's fit and he's young, so it doesn't even cross my mind but it's going to be a big shock from building his way back, having a get back in the ring type of fight - which I've had to do myself - and then going straight into a deep, hard fight where he's really, really going to need to dig in. That’s when it'll be tested and that's when we'll find out if this has had an effect on him."

High profile domestic clashes bring a unique level of attention and pressure but McGregor will be able to call on previous experience this week.

All the way back in 2019, he took on his undefeated Scottish rival, Kash Farooq, in a high pressure British and Commonwealth bantamweight title fight and fought his way to a split decision win.

McGregor has reached the point in his life where he can make sense of the highs and lows he has been through and realise that they have shaped him into the person and fighter he is today.

“I'm ready at all times. I'm always in the gym I'm always training. I dedicate my whole life to this,” he said.

“I just wish I’d had the experience and the brains I have now at 28 when I was 20 but that's unfortunately impossible. You need to go through these experiences and all these things in life to sort of be be the man I am today.

"I'm still obviously young enough to do it so it's not as if I'm saying this and it's the end of my career so it's good. People start getting these feelings when retirement kicks in and have a lot of regrets whereas I'm still in a very, very good position with all this experience behind me.”